Costs of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fahs M ; Landrigan, Philip J. ; Leigh PJ ; Markowitz S
• Description:
  Our study attempted to estimate the total costs of occupational injuries and illnesses to the United States in 1992. This study appears to be the first to use national data to estimate these costs.1 We find that the costs of occupational injuries and illnesses are considerable, surpassing those of AIDS and nearly as great as those of cancer and heart disease. Potential victims include any one of the roughly 120 million Americans who work for a living. Since the injuries and illnesses occur at places of business, some of their costs are spread to consumers in the form of higher prices throughout the economy, all workers in the form of lower wages, and taxpayers. But despite the size of these costs and the fact that so many people pay them, occupational injuries and illnesses do not receive the attention they deserve (Rosenstock 1981). By almost any measure, AIDS, arthiritis, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and heart disease receive far more attention than occupational injuries and illnesses.2 In the course of four years of medical training, the typical U.S. doctor receives six hours of instruction in occupational safety and health. The national debate on medical care rarely addresses occupational safety and health issues. This is unfortunate. The potential for cost savings from prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses appears to be significant. ... [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Delivery Of Health Care Neoplasms Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Cancer Cancer-rates Medical-care Medical-examinations Medical-research Occupational-accidents Occupational-diseases Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Workers Workplace-studies

  More +
• ISBN:
  9780472110810
• Publisher:
  University of Michigan Press
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Michigan ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-310
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20033348
• Citation:
  Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2000 Jul; :1-310
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2000
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Davis
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19900930
• Source Full Name:
  Costs of occupational injuries and illnesses
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7a96ff0324461c73923cb92137a25e2146494f1ffb0a8798a5984164eeca8c5b34daf5cd4cbf77466dc0b99e1dca210a876184a26b118c301d445e938b095b50
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188963/cdc_188963_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.09 MB ]